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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Wrong Side of Dead by Kelly Meding

The Dreg City Series Book Four
Bantam Books
January 31st, 2013
978-0-345-52579-6
Urban Fantasy
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)
Obtained by Publisher
4 hearts

Evy Stone has been tortured, died, been brought back to life and has enemies coming out of the woodwork has all but broken her into pieces. Only the strength of her love for Wyatt, another triad member and her strong will to survive has Evy been able to make this new body of hers her very own. But the mad scientist, Walter Thackery, is still loose and after Evy’s unplanned visit with him, she knows he has plans on top of backup plans. But that isn’t the only fight she has to deal with. Add in half-blood vampires who have some kind of reason and that makes them even more deadly than before and a long thought extinct were/shape-shifter has returned with a vengeance. All Evy wanted was to reconnect with her love, Wyatt, and heal her physical, emotional and mental self. And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface once Evy finds out what has happened while she was captive by Thackery. Secrets explode, alliances broken as new alliances are made. The triads that used to patrol the streets, keeping the citizens of Dreg City safe are in tatters. What happens next will change the war that is brewing as Evy, Wyatt and all their friends are put to the test. The question isn’t who will win but who will survive in the end.

Oh my lord, this was one heck of a book. Ms. Meding delivers one pulse pounding ride from start to finish, tying up sub-plot points while weaving a few new ones to keep the reader on the edge of the seat. WRONG SIDE OF DEAD picks up right where book three, Another Kind of Dead, left off. The reader is treated to a story full of hidden nuances, exquisite storytelling and multi-dimensional characters that fairly leap off the pages into your living room. The writing is tight and storyline was fast paced with a few twists I so did not see coming at all. Everything comes to head in WRONG SIDE OF DEAD and for our gutsy kick butt Evy Stone, well let’s just say the reader finds themselves wishing for a down day for her.

Meet Evangeline Stone. She has been through the wringer. Tortured at the hands of mad scientist Walter Thackery, she finally was able to return to the place she felt she belonged only things have drastically changed during the time she was in this madman’s hands. Alliances broken, the Triad is tatters and a betrayal no one saw coming staggers them all. I have to admit, Evy was one heroine I could really identify with though minus killing bad guys/gals, getting tortured and all that but finding your place in a world that has changed when you weren’t looking. It is bound to cause someone many moments of self-doubt among other feelings. This is an author who knows this world very, very well. Her world building is amazing, the many varied paranormal creatures (vampires, shifters, fae, goblins, and many more) make their presence known in one way or another in this series.

This is truly the work of an author who knows how to build the world and create appealing characters to fall in love with. They are well written; flawed creatures who I can say made me want to take them home and give them a hug or crack them in the head. The secondary characters are not lacking either. Evy’s relationships meld and change fluidly and I loved how this author has you sympathizing one minute with her then next rooting for her to tear the guy’s throat out the next.
WRONG SIDE OF DEAD is more than a kick butt heroine and paranormal creatures but a complex mix of lives lost and won, relationships that strengthen or die and finding how much you can take after all the pain-emotional, mental and physical-is upon you. Evy Stone is one character that I can’t get enough off and I can attest one I just love to pieces.

If you enjoy a story that weaves a spell around you, makes you fall in love with the characters and more then you need to run-not walk-to grab this entire series. I can attest it is one series I re-read a lot just to get my fix for Evy’s snarkiness, her determination and her love of life.
Ms. Meding is fast rising onto being right up there with the likes of Sherrilyn Kenyon, JR Ward and other top paranormal/urban fantasy authors. Now I just want to know, when will book five come out?

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